Federal charges: Maryville couple profited from scam in Afghanistan

A federal grand jury in Virginia on Tuesday indicted a Maryville couple for their alleged roles in a nearly $7 million scheme to defraud a Department of Defense contractor servicing the Afghan National Army in Kabul.

According to the indictment, Keith Johnson, 46, and Angela Johnson, 44, bought luxury vehicles and jewelry, among other items, for themselves with proceeds gained in the scam.

The Johnsons are scheduled to appear July 26 in front of U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The couple could not be reached for comment. Records showed only a Maryville post office box for them.

The Johnsons are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They face up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy and up to 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud if convicted, according to the government.

Arlington, Va., attorney Chris Amolsch represents Keith Johnson.

"I don't necessarily believe anything the government tells me," Amolsch said regarding his client's indictment. "He hasn't even been arraigned yet, so it is too early to be talking about potential jail time."

The indictment does not identify the companies that were involved or impacted by the alleged scheme.

According to the charges, the Johnsons sought to defraud Keith Johnson's company, which is a Department of Defense contractor, relating to two contracts worth more than $269 million. The contracts were to provide vehicle-fleet maintenance for the Afghan National Army, officials said.

The charges state that between July 2007 and June 2010 Keith Johnson worked for a firm in the Afghan capital as its project manager and procurement manager for Afghan Army contracts. The unnamed firm is based in Rosslyn, Va., a Washington D.C. suburb, according to the indictment.

As part of his job, Keith Johnson fielded requisitions for vehicle parts from another company only identified as "Company No. 2", a subcontractor for his employer.

Officials from Johnson's company, as part of the business arrangement, would then issue purchase orders for those parts to subcontractors after receiving multiple bids, the government alleges.

According to the indictment, in September 2007 the Johnsons created their own company, a Tennessee corporation. To hide their roles in the corporation, they listed not themselves but Angela Johnson's mother and daughter on corporate documents, officials allege.

Keith Johnson, according to authorities, used his position with his employer to steer parts-supply purchase orders and other business on army contracts to the company he and his wife created.

Authorities allege the Johnsons also agreed with two other unnamed individuals at the subcontractor to further the scheme. The unnamed conspirators helped steer business from Johnson's employer to Johnson's company, and Keith Johnson helped guide business from his employer to a Georgia company that the unnamed conspirators operated under a fictional name, according to the indictment.

The conspirators paid kickbacks to the Johnsons as part of the scheme, the government alleges.

Also, as part of the scheme, the Johnsons coordinated inflated bids on behalf of either their firm or the Georgia company to ensure they got business from Johnson's employer, according to the indictment. As part of the scam, Johnson's employer was also made to order excess parts that weren't yet needed, and the Johnsons' company failed to supply all parts as required by the contractor in Kabul.

All told, the conspirators netted $6.9 million, which they spent on themselves, the government alleges.

According to the government, the Johnsons face potential forfeiture of $6.9 million, property in Cordova, Tenn., a 2008 BMW 750i, a 2008 Mercedes E63 AMG sedan, a vehicle trailer, about $191,000 in jewelry, a 2003 Jeep Wrangler and the contents in four other bank accounts at various institutions.

Prosecuting the case is Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Faulconer of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

When asked what tipped authorities to the scheme, Zach Terwilliger, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office there, said the office had no comment regarding ongoing investigations.

"Basically we have the information we put out (Wednesday) and no comment beyond that," he said. "There won't be further information released until something additional happens."

There was no documentation that Angela Johnson has been arrested.

While the criminal docket for the case against Keith Johnson said an arrest warrant was executed for him on May 1, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Amolsch said his client has never been detained in the case.

Amolsch said he didn't have specific information regarding the indictment. On Thursday he said he did not know where his client was.